While catching a little TV in late November, the news announced the 2013 Festival of Trees was taking place in the Dearborn community. With renewed interest in this huge and prominent charity, I flashed backed to my years as a contributing designer to the festival.

The Festival of Trees originated in Detroit in 1984, and most of the people invited to design trees were professionals such as interior designers and floral designers. As the years progressed, others such as retailers, families, work-related groups and more were also invited to participate and design trees. Proceeds from this charitable fundraiser are earmarked for the research needed to cure childhood diseases and to Children’s Hospital of Michigan.

While I was honored to be invited to participate in the first festival, I soon realized the challenge. Somewhat intimidating were the many professional floral designers, experienced in designing Christmas trees for a living while my experience was limited to what I did for personal pleasure.

I accepted the invitation and immediately developed a theme for my tree. In the 1980s, designs for everything including Christmas trees were elegant and thematic. Holiday attire was shiny and glitzy. Women wore long gowns covered with sequins, shoulder pads and puffy hair. I decided to I design a diva appealing tree, feminine and glamorous.

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I labeled my tree, “Pour Madame de Pompadour” with the thought that it would be an elegant statement for an aristocratic woman of the period. A white tree with pink lights and pink and silver accents was called for, and I immediately went shopping for items to assimilate into French themes. Strings of pearls, curly feathers, white doves, cupids along with handmade ornaments which included pink and white cornucopia filled with delicate flowers and silvery glitter were among the finds. Evenings were spent cutting, clipping, gluing, sewing creating custom decorations and ornaments of cupids garlands etc.

Packages were wrapped in pink and white with silver ribbon to place beneath the tree and yards of pink and white tulle was purchased for the top as a pouf and to float atop the floor.

My foyer was becoming filled with boxes, bows, lights and hand made items to the point where it was hard to get through to the stairway. My family with raised eyebrows wondered “what is mom doing now?”

I was pleased and surprised to find that the judges in the pageant had selected my tree for to be bid upon, creating more revenue for the festival and ultimately Children’s Hospital. That night, I watched from a distance as people placed bids on my creation. A gentleman about age 40 paid $1,200 for the French tree (a lot of money in the early 1990s).He said he had purchased it for his mother and she was fond of everything pink.

I congratulated and thanked him, and said upon delivery I would arrive to make sure everything was in order and that the tree would look exactly as it did when he bought it. The installed tree was so different from everything else in the room, however, it created a breathtakingly beautiful scene and friends were about to come by for an inspection, comments and, of course, critique.

Driving away, I thought of all of the winners that day: Children’s Hospital, the Festival of Trees, the gentleman who purchased the tree, the recipient mother to have the tree purchased by a loving son, and even myself for having had the energy and enthusiasm to conceptualize and produce this storybook Christmas tree that served to benefit the hospital — and create personal joy for my own holiday.

I did four more years with the festival. I knew then it was time to call it in.

Many Oakland County residents have volunteered tirelessly for the Festival of Trees over the years. Some have never missed a year. They are to be especially congratulated because next year will mark the 30th consecutive year of the event and it will again be held at the Ford Community and Arts Center in Dearborn.

Bonnie Meyer is an Oakland County interior designer, having designed throughout Michigan, Illinois and Ohio. She is NCIDQ certified and her education is in architectural design and art history.

About the Author

Bonnie Meyer is a Bloomfield Township interior designer who writes about home decor. Reach the author at blmdesigns10@gmail.com
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